World Cup Story Belittles

F.F.O. - FOR FANS ONLY - Letters to the sports editor

July 18, 1999

I was enraged by David Whitley's column July 11 (``U.S. World Cup title wins over fans, for now''). The sentiment in this article by Mr. Whitley seems to take all of the progress that women athletes have struggled for back to the 1950s. Not only does he dismiss one of the most popular sports in the world, but he also dismisses the women who have trained and practiced their whole lives to achieve this great honor of not only participating in the World Cup, but winning it.

Does Mr. Whitley realize that soccer is the most popular sport for our children to play? Statistics show that youth soccer programs are more popular than the youth football, baseball and basketball programs. His reference to the ``gender war'' in paragraph 13 when he writes, ``You can excel with skill and grace, not strength and speed'' proves his ignorance. In order to play the game as well as these women do, you need all four attributes as well as one more - endurance.

The American team showed us that dreams do come true. They also showed us that soccer is a great and exciting sport that can be enjoyed by everyone. Both teams were matched so closely that the whole game was made interesting because you never knew what could happen next.

I would like to add one more bit of information for Mr. Whitley. There were more Americans watching the women's World Cup games than were watching the ho-hum NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks.